Ben Duncan 💙

Working at a Cornish Pre-school. Having fun playing with everyone at work

#TeamEarlyChildhood #Keyu #LetThemPlay

[Dr. Aaron Bradbury @AaronTeamEC]

We’re calling on Bridget Phillipson to rethink approach to early years.

Children need play, not pressure.
The science is clear, school readiness shouldn’t come at the cost of child development.

🖊️ Sign the open letter: https://t.co/whoiZkJ2Sk
#PlayMatters #RethinkEarlyYears

[nazir afzal @nazirafzal]

All 51 men have been convicted of raping Gisele Pelicot

She heroically fought for this while her husband & each of these rapists felt sorry for themselves

We deal with the symptoms but ignore the sexism & misogyny that causes it

Today is Gisele’s day

[Moose Allain Ꙭ @MooseAllain]

2024 Aardvent is here to download
It's a gift from us, all we ask is that you:
-enjoy it
-share the link with friends and get them to do it too
-don't sell it, alter it or use any of the images for anything else.
-download & use at your own risk
M&K xx

https://t.co/CcPONJ2v7O

[Prof Colin Diamond CBE 🇺🇦🌹🇪🇺🇮🇪 @Anfieldexile]

Here we go: clear research evidence that Sure Start impacted long-term on life chances in this country. Many parallels with Head Start in the US. It took Gove weeks to close the programme with irreparable damage. Basically he didn’t have a clue about EY😞 https://t.co/TYe9ZBGivj

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

King Charles charges this RNLI lifeboat station to launch its boat because he owns the beach. And they’re not the only charity he’s rinsing

(Location: Sennen Cove, Cornwall)

[Abuse Compensation @abusecompensat1]

Elizabeth Duncan, is recognised by @UK_Legal500 as a "shining star" who is "excellent with vulnerable clients" as she handles cases involving non recent sexual abuse. If you are looking for recommended abuse lawyers then we're here to help. https://t.co/3iyuyZSWFZ
#Legal500

[BPAS @BPAS1968]

Factcheck: Maternity pay has existed since 1911 & is essential for women to make informed, supported reproductive choices. It is also currently at a level where 71% of women worry 'a lot' about money during maternity leave and 35% of new mothers skip meals to afford to live.

[Ben Duncan 💙 @ventongimp]

It's been fun Seville. A beautiful city

[Ben Duncan 💙 @ventongimp]

Loving Córdoba, even in the 41°C heat

[Ben Duncan 💙 @ventongimp]

@SLC_Repayment Hi, the company I work for made a payment to my student loan last financial year, and I am way below the threshold for payments. I'd like it back please

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Launched 2.5 years ago "the largest ever criminal investigation into... widespread non-compliance... at thousands of sewage... works", has just been expanded to every company in England and Wales.

What does that tell you about regulation last 33 years?

https://t.co/o6jDQJw04W

[Naomi Fisher @naomicfisher]

Shoes and the social contract

A parent has got in touch to share this story.
Her son’s school became an academy last Sept and part of this is an increasingly strict uniform code. She bought him a pair of shoes which cost £75 at the start of the year and he has now worn through them. They have holes. She threw them away.

She ordered him a new part of shoes, taking care to look at the uniform code which is highly specific and which comes with a set of pictures as to which plain black shoes are acceptable and not acceptable. They arrived in time and he went to school on Monday. No problem with the new shoes.

On Wednesday morning at 9.10 am whilst at work she gets a call from school saying that the new shoes are not in fact acceptable and that unless she brings him in new shoes immediately, he will be sent home. She has to leave work, drive home, fish the old shoes out of the bin and take them into school to avoid this. She misses a meeting at work as a result.

There’s no right of appeal, no explanation as to why those shoes were not acceptable when they had been fine for two days and they, as far as she could see, fitted the criteria. Now he is wearing shoes with holes in them and it looks like she will have to buy another pair of new shoes but can't return the old new ones, since he wore them for two days.

She is angry, and rightfully so. When we talk about the social contract between parents and schools, part of this should surely be that children will not be sent home for minor issues, and parents shouldn’t be expected to leave work for the same minor issues. This sort of control will never help the relationship between schools and families.

Why has it become acceptable to control both parents and children in this way, and how can this possibly help children learn?

[Institute for Fiscal Studies @TheIFS]

NEW: Sure Start, England’s first large programme to provide holistic support to families with children under five, greatly improved disadvantaged children’s GCSE results.

Read @nridpathecon @Sarah_Cattan @carneiro_econ’s report, funded by @NuffieldFound: https://t.co/NiHZzVES3W

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

“Not a penny more of public money should go into these companies.”

Environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey says shareholders who have “ram-raided” water companies should pay for cleaning up the UK's rivers, lakes and bathing waters.

[Ben Duncan 💙 @ventongimp]

@droedmawr I love the giant redwoods they have there

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

While you were sleeping govt published this. 👇👇👇

By 2050 we're going to need another 5 billion litres of water per day, 35% more than currently supplied, we don't have it nor the means to supply it.

Now you know what 33 years of profiteering and regulatory failure looks like

[Ruth Swailes @SwailesRuth]

We should be asking these 5 questions of all our leaders !

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

"Instead of making decisions around how you make profit, just focus on colleagues being really happy."

Timpson boss @JamesTCobbler talks to @krishgm about "upside-down management” and why giving employees more control can make a business more money.

https://t.co/PmXherpGVm

[Jenny Jones @GreenJennyJones]

We have debated water company scams and their pollution of our beautiful natural spaces, streams, rivers, and beaches SO many times that I can't bear the limp excuses any more. Water privatisation has failed. #RenationaliseWaterNow!